Bansal meets PM, Congress rules out his resignation

Bansal drove down to the prime minister's official residence and was closeted with him for nearly 20 minutes.

A sullen looking Bansal drove away from the prime minister's residence without speaking to the reporters.

The meeting comes in the wake of the arrest of Bansal's nephew Vijay Singla by the CBI in connection with alleged bribery of Rs 90 lakh for fixing a top level position in thegovernment.

The Congress on Friday brushed aside demands for Bansal's resignation.

"For those who are demanding resignation, it has become a disease," Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi told reporters.

"The railway minister himself has given a clarification and said that there should be a thorough probe into the matter. I don't think we can expect anything more from him," Dwivedi said in a brief reaction to the developments surrounding Bansal.

The Bharatiya Janata Party has demanded the sacking of the railway minister and CBI prosecution against him, with party leader Ravi Shankar Prasad saying that seeking pecuniary advantage by someone close to the railway minister and abusing the authority of the minister is a "copybook case" of prosecution of Bansal.

The Communist Party of India - Marxist also has demanded his resignation.

The minister's nephew V Singla was on Friday arrested by the CBI in connection with alleged bribery of Rs 90 lakh for fixing a top level position in the government.

Bansal has distanced himself from his nephew, saying he had no business links with him and denied any wrongdoing.